Film processing is expensive and storing the sensitive images can be a compliance problem for medical imaging offices. Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) have been established not only to deal with cost and compliance issues, but to make sharing these images between healthcare professionals easier.
The best PACS system can handle massive amounts of data, which seems to be a growing trend these days as more Americans take advantage of the advanced imaging technologies that help locate problem areas, allow doctors to make diagnoses and recommend a course of treatment.
PACS come in different shapes and sizes, so to speak, but most will include modalities for taking pictures. These modalities include CT scanners, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, etc. The PACS also includes a secure network that keeps the images and data safe from prying eyes, servers for storing the data and workstations that allow medical personnel the ability to study the images.
Establishing the best PACS system is not cheap. Most radiology departments will invest a good deal of money on their modalities, but not as much as they’ll spend installing a good PACS system. But once these systems are in place, they offer new and more efficient ways to manage workflow, create reports and distribute reports.
Healthcare facilities looking for the best PACS systems should be looking for one that allows them to take their stored images and provide access to them to whomever is qualified/authorized to see them, even if it’s at a satellite office or from rural facility to large, urban facility where experts can study the images. The best PACS systems will offer a vendor neutral approach so hardware doesn’t become a compatibility issue.
More and more PACS systems have become web-based, which lets an increasing number of health professionals have access. But due to privacy concerns, many must be operated through a virtual private network or a secure sockets layer, which keeps patient information locked down tight.
PACS take daily monitoring, which means taking on a qualified third-party to administer makes a lot of sense. The integrity of the data in the PACS must be solid. Backing up the data in the database is essential, as is the management of the hardware. PACS managers will monitor everything from operations of the network to software and hardware to event logs.
OffSite Image Management Inc., is a company focused on rural and critical care hospital radiology services. OffSite offers vendor neutral archiving, off site storage and business continuity solutions, PACS systems and virtual CD – cloud management. OffSite knows that user access is the key to better business practices, so the team at OffSite has developed a PACS system that takes all the heavy lifting out of the clients’ hands. OffSite offers automatic upgrades to workstations, which means the already overburdened and understaffed IT departments don’t have to bother with the PACS system. OffSite also delivers on the mobility component – offering users the ability to log in from any desktop.